"We are all in shock." How the shooting in the city center affected Belarusians in Krakow

"They tried to be all together and support each other"

On Saturday, November 7th, Katsiaryna was heading to the premises of the "Prastora" hub, located in the center of Krakow. Belarusians planned to honor the memory of deceased ancestors and hold a traditional Dziady dinner. On her way, she heard gunshots.

"I heard some shots, but I thought that something happens very often in our city: some festivals, concerts. I saw people running, but my brain couldn't immediately grasp that it was some kind of danger. I started asking what was happening, but no one answered me — people just ran. Only foreigners said in English that there was a shooting," Katsiaryna recounts.

She decided not to run with the crowd, but to hide.

"I assessed that it would be closer for me to run into our building than to run with the whole crowd. We are currently renovating the facade, and I thought it would be quicker to hide behind the structures of this construction. I ran there. I remember it was about five to three," says our interviewee.

Once safe, she heard the police arriving and siren sounds.

At the Belarusian "Prastora" at that time, people who came for the Dziady dinner began to gather. They followed the news and tried to support each other.

"We simply couldn't believe it was happening. We tried to be all together, support each other, respond to loved ones and friends who were writing and asking how we were," Katsiaryna recounts.

Later, when people started going home, the city center was cordoned off by the police.

How Krakow is experiencing the aftermath of the shooting

Hleb Liapeika, a Belarusian guide in Krakow, says that the day after the tragedy, the city was quite calm. According to him, he is positively impressed by how the services worked and how people are behaving:

"From what I see, everything is quite calm. I am pleasantly impressed by how the services responded and how people are behaving. Due to the mourning period, all events have been canceled, people are just strolling down the street. Today the weather is sunny. I don't see any panic, including on social media. Overall, it seems quieter on the streets than usual, but that might just be my impression."

He himself was far from the city center during the shooting, but the events still deeply affected him. At 3 PM, when the attack happened in the center, Hleb was starting a cemetery tour.

"We didn't even hear anything. And it's a surreal experience — conducting such a walk during an attack in the city center," he recounts.

After the tour, Hleb, who previously worked as a journalist, started gathering information to help people understand what had happened.

"As a former journalist, although there's no such thing as a former one, after the tour I sat down to collect verified information to prevent rumors from spreading. My heart was heavy with all of this, and my brain started inventing scenarios of how I could have ended up in the center. I'm there almost every day. Today it's already easier," says Hleb Liapeika.

What is known about the shooting in Krakow

The shooting took place on November 7th around 3 PM in the area of Krakow's main market square. According to Polish police, a man fired at random people from a moving car.

Six people died — four women and two men. Among the deceased were citizens of Poland, Great Britain, and Russia. Another 15 people were injured. Among the injured were foreigners and two police officers. The condition of one of the police officers was assessed as critical.

The attacker, a 24-year-old Polish citizen, was apprehended after a shootout with police. He was wounded and taken to the hospital. According to Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński, there are indications that the man was interested in far-right ideologies and held radical ultranationalist views.

After the attack, the bodies of three more people — the attacker's parents and sister — were found in the detained man's home in the city of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski.

Polish authorities are investigating the circumstances and motives of the attack. November 8th and 9th have been declared days of national mourning in Poland.

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